Indymom

I have a sample packet of this. I'm going to be doing all my 'taste-testing' this weekend so that I know what to go buy next week before my surgery. I'll report back after I taste it.

My food list for my full liquid stage includes cream soups that are strained. Seems like a cheese soup would fit that bill?

I would LOVE to not be a wide width anymore. I could shop at all the cute places instead of just Payless.

Yikes, that's crazy! I remembered a really heightened sense of smell when I was pregnant. I hope it's not like that for me, I couldn't even grocery shop because the smell in the meat dept made me nauseous all the time.

Thanks for sharing this! I am definitely already trying to mentally gear myself up for those food situations - we have lots of work meetings with food, and it will definitely be hard.

My plan is surgery on Weds - off work Weds-Fri PTO plus the weekend - work from home Monday/Tuesday (all computer work) - back in the office Wednesday. I'm really hoping it happens that way!!

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like you had a backslide, but no gain is great . . . just chalk it up to a brief derailment, but now you're back on the right "track" so to speak. Good luck to you!

My surgeon only requires a one-day pre-op diet. However, my surgery is on a Wednesday (8/10) and after this weekend I plan to do high-protein, low-carb with a protein drink for at least one meal for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before surgery. I really need to get my brain wrapped around my new eating protocols now.

Wait, what? Muscle being more dense than fat means that all else being equal, a more muscular 160 lbs is likely to be more 'compact' than a less muscular 160 lbs. Size 4 is likely to be more muscular than size 10. If that's what you were saying I apologize for trying to correct you.

I only have a one-day pre-op diet of liquids, I honestly can't see how adding some veggies will cause any harm. That said, it's best to follow your surgeon's recommendations. You might give them a call?

Had mine today. Not too bad overall, but for those of you who will have to have the upper GI - YUCK to the barium you have to drink! It was awful, I nearly gagged.

I bought a single serving of the roadside lemonade from Nectar at my hospital's boutique (they sell lots of different products there). I'm going to be trying it on Thursday, will come back and post.

I just bought this one, I haven't used it yet but my stepson has made a couple smoothies and it blends REALLY well.

I'm not diabetic and still pre-op, but I seem to recall reading lots of posts on here about people who are no longer on diabetes meds since their sleeve surgery. ??

Did you do weight watchers meetings or online? If you recorded your weight monthly online for 6 months, you could print a record of that from the WW site (or get the records from your meeting leader/secretary). Not sure if that works or not?

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, what an inspiration!

What a difference and congrats on such a good report from the doctor!

Congrats!

Wheetsin, I work for a large health insurer too. Publication 502 is tough to interpret. My personal opinion is that weight loss surgery whether done in the US or outside, should be covered under 502 as a tax deductible expense. Even though it's 'elective,' it's not cosmetic. Elective simply means you decided to have the surgery in advance, vs. needing 'emergency surgery' (or bypass surgery following a heart attack, etc.). Things like hip and knee replacements are also considered 'elective.' Plastic/cosmetic surgery would typically not be considered a deductible expense, although Kristie does give one pause with her explanation above about obesity=disease and the cosmetic surgery to repair a 'deformity from disease.' You could potentially argue that one but I don't know, I suspect IRS auditors can be pretty shrewd. In all matters tax-related, I ALWAYS tell my clients to defer to a tax professional. Back to the opening post, Wheetsin is absolutely correct - any non-covered service (like your cash pay surgery) will not accumulate towards your deductible or out of pocket expense, unfortunately.

I am having my surgery in the US and I am scheduled as the first procedure of the day (8:30 a.m. surgery start time). I met with a pre-op nurse the other day and she indicated that I would likely be able to go home the following afternoon if all went well. Is a one-night stay normal? For other US patients, how long did your surgeon advise your stay would be and did most of you only stay one night? I know that all could change if there are any complications but just want to get an idea of what is "normal."

I don't have my nutrition class until Thursday 7/28 (surgery is 8/10). I think I'll only have a few days' post-op diet, but I am starting tomorrow on a calorie restricted diet so I can "practice" tracking my protein, carbs, and calories. I'm also going to start trying to sip rather than gulp, and really concentrate on chewing my food slowly. I'm a fast eater and a drink gulper so I probably need to get myself on track now before surgery.

I can see how that could be a good thing and bad thing at the same time. I think it must be a weird feeling at the very least, huh?

Agreed, leg cramping can definitely be a result of not enough to drink (or not enough potassium). Not a bad idea to check with your doc, though, to be safe.

From what I've been reading on the boards, looks like a LOT of people are taking some sort of PPI (prilosec, omeprazole, nexium, etc). Did you find that this problem emerged post-surgery or did you have issues before? I've never had heartburn issues (unless I'm just REALLY stupid and decide that buffalo wings or a burrito is a good idea at 3 a.m. after I've gone out with friends) but am worried that I might need to start taking one as a preventative after surgery. I'm interested to hear what everyone has to say about their reflux issues pre and post-op. Thanks!

When I was on Weight Watchers Gina's blog was my lifesaver (skinnytaste.com). I haven't reviewed a lot of her recipes to see if they are low-carb and will be sleeve-friendly (eventually), but I'm sure I'll be able to still make some of hers because my whole family loves them. I've spent some time on Eggface's blog and wish that she had just a full recipe listing, it seems like it might be kinda hard to get through all her diff recipes.